Driver in fatal Parkway crash had worked 7-day weeks to buy car

LAKEWOOD — Loved ones of the four young men who died in a crash on the Parkway the day after Christmas are struggling to make sense of the tragic loss.

Co-workers of Kevin Quispe-Prieto, the 21-year-old driver, said he spent the summer working six to seven days a week in order to save up to buy his white Infinity G37. The sedan ended in a crumpled wreck before 3 a.m. Wednesday after slamming into the rear of a tanker truck.

The crash also killed Kevin's brother, Jimmy Quispe-Prieto, 23, as well as Victor Lugo, a 24-year-old U.S. Marine, and Robert Ordeñana, a 23-year-old public works employee who was planning on becoming a police officer like his stepfather. The truck driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

State Police have not said what may have caused the crash.

A candlelight vigil is planned for friends Lugo and Ordeñana at 1 p.m. Sunday at John F. Patrick Sports Complex on Vine Avenue.

Services for Lugo will be 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Calvary Lighthouse, 133 East County Line Road. Surviving are Lugo's mother, father, stepfather and a brother and sister.

Victor Lugo was killed Dec. 26, 2018, in a car crash on the Parkway. (via Facebook)

Brothers Jimmy and Kevin Quispe-Prieto were killed Dec. 26, 2018, in a car crash on the Parkway. (via Facebook)

Information on services for the other victims was not immediately available Friday afternoon.

Kevin's co-workers at Christian Pools in Toms River set up a GoFundMe fundraiser for the families of the four victims.

The co-workers said the Quispe-Prieto family moved from Peru to the United States about 15 years ago.

"As a co-worker he was dedicated, loyal, and more than helpful," they said about Kevin. "He was our store translator for our Spanish speaking customers and you can tell he was proud to do so.

"He worked so hard this summer, working 6 sometimes 7 days a week to save up for this car. He was impressed with himself and his new car and we were all so proud of him for the accomplishment. He was a hard worker that will be sincerely missed."